Thread: Will be Retro

If you look closely at the left hand Defender it seems to have sliders or side steps of some kind.

Would be great if deployable sidesteps were an option, as on Rangies. They fold up when the engine starts, but fold down for stepping out when stopped, I believe.

Not my cup of tea Mick. Will break, will be expensive when it breaks, will be a huge problem if it breaks when in arduous off-road conditions (unless you could easily remove or wind back up and in with a socket).

Cheers

Originally Posted by ozscott

Not my cup of tea Mick. Will break, will be expensive when it breaks, will be a huge problem if it breaks when in arduous off-road conditions (unless you could easily remove or wind back up and in with a socket).

Cheers

I dont think a side step, powered or not could ever be a huge problem breaking, maybe just annoying , lots of defenders have big bulky fold down side steps than get bent, they would have to be removed, straightened or replaced.

Some people love em, some dont. They are a fairly simple thing by design, wiper motor and hinges etc

I dont think it will have deployable on the new defender, but maybe, if they do, it will be optional and no doubt tested to take hits off-road. For me, im with you, I dont think i would get them on a defender but a RRvogue or Sport i think i would.

Some new decent offroad shots from another forum, good to see some flex finally and my fav is the 3rd shot

Heres an interesting one, brightened up the front to try and see what's in the shadows.
Looks to be a huge fan in the middle.
Can't see any big coolers hanging right down like in the D5, if that is them in the shadows they are high up.
Frame has two big bolt-on sections (possibility for recovery points or factory or aftermarket Bullbars/bumpers.

Weights are also much clearer.

Originally Posted by blackrangie

I dont think a side step, powered or not could ever be a huge problem breaking, maybe just annoying , lots of defenders have big bulky fold down side steps than get bent, they would have to be removed, straightened or replaced.

Some people love em, some dont. They are a fairly simple thing by design, wiper motor and hinges etc

I dont think it will have deployable on the new defender, but maybe, if they do, it will be optional and no doubt tested to take hits off-road. For me, im with you, I dont think i would get them on a defender but a RRvogue or Sport i think i would.

It's a huge problem if it auto deploys out and down when getting out in the middle of difficult terrain and fails to return... ie in places where you need the clearance. What happens if you can't stick a socket on and wind it back up...can't get over obstacles you cleared on the way in, bend bits of vehicle...? Just one more unnecessary and silly bling to go wrong.

Cheers

I think you can expect Land Rover will have thought through those kinds of issues. Aside from being able to disable them completely, there's a selectable mode for "off-road" - I wouldn't be surprised if they were also directly linked to terrain response and operate accordingly. Even if they do deploy against an obstruction, they'll sense it and retract immediately. There's a "Roof Access" mode also which will force them to stay deployed to, as it says, enable easier access the roof. How they would stand up to off-road treatment and if they offer any kind of sill protection...who knows. Not for hard offroad I think.